PACIFIC
by ravendarkholme23
Summary: She was dead. He was alive. In which, the demigods of the prophecy must defeat Gaea once and for all. In which, Nerissa Jackson has unlocked her full potential and is willing to use her new powers to save those she loves. {Heroes of Olympus} {Blood of Olympus} {Jason Grace / OC} {ON HIATUS} {BOOK THREE}
1. ALPHA

**_ALPHA | EXTENDED SUMMARY AND CAST_**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the** ** _Heroes of Olympus_** **series or any of the characters. I only own the character Nerissa Jackson and her original plot lines and dialogue.**

* * *

 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO** ** _RHatch89_** **,** ** _yasminasfeir1_** **,** ** _Arianna Le Fay_** **,** ** _DontKillMyMockingjay_** **,** ** _NicoleR85_** **,** ** _One Smart Waffle_** **,** ** _DreamHunterVo_** **,** ** _Imprisoned Wings_** **,** ** _purplepuppy216_** **,** ** _lightwalnut64, LuckyGo, Guest (1), Guest (2), Guest (3), Guest (4) Hannah, Cari_** **AND** ** _fran._**

* * *

Nerissa Jackson was the daughter of Poseidon and she was one of the most powerful demigods on the planet with a destiny she had once tried to ignore.

But now she was dead.

The demigods of the Prophecy of Seven had travelled through the House of Hades, seen the deepest parts of Tartarus and had succeeded in returning the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood. Now, they were finally ready to take down the big bad they were heading towards: Gaea. And that was without someone who held them all together. Riss had died suddenly, after thinking that finally she was going to get her happily ever after—where people weren't trying to kill her, her brother was safe and happy, her friends weren't dying and she was with the boy she was in love with.

But a demigod's job was never done and Riss had been handed her biggest task yet: facing life after death.

And let's just say, the demigods of the Prophecy of Seven would get a rude shock when a goddess appears on their ship, accompanied by a once-dead, Roman demigod, to deliver some news that would make all of them question everything they knew.

Nerissa Jackson was very much alive.

But Gaea was determined to make sure she was dead again, very, very soon.

 **XXXXX**

 ** _"_** ** _What is meant to be, will always find a way."_**

 _Unknown_

 **XXXXX**

 ** _Barbara Palvin as Nerissa 'Riss' Jackson_**

 _[THE WARRIOR] [DAUGHTER OF POSIEDON]_

 ** _Steven R. McQueen as Sander 'Sandman' Soloman_**

 _[THE PROTECTOR] [SON OF SOMNUS]_

 ** _Dichen Lachman as Angustia_**

 _[THE BANE] [DAUGHTER OF GAEA]_

 ** _Logan Lerman as Perseus 'Percy' Jackson_**

 _[THE REBEL] [SON OF POSEIDON]_

 ** _Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase_**

 _[THE GENIUS] [DAUGHTER OF ATHENA]_

 ** _Lucas Till as Jason Grace_**

 _[THE ROMAN] [SON OF JUPITER]_

 ** _Kelsey Chow as Piper McLean_**

 _[THE VOICE] [DAUGHTER OF APHRODITE]_

 ** _Jake T. Austin as Leo Valdez_**

 _[THE MECHANIC] [SON OF HEPHAESTUS]_

 ** _Kaya Scodelario as Thalia Grace_**

 _[THE HUNTER] [DAUGHTER OF ZEUS]_

 ** _Jane Levy as Rachel Elizabeth Dare_**

 _[THE ORACLE OF APOLLO]_

 ** _Douglas Smith as Tyson_**

 _[THE CYCLOPS] [SON OF POSIEDON]_

 ** _Amandla Stenberg as Hazel Levesque_**

 _[THE RETURNED] [DAUGHTER OF PLUTO]_

 ** _Booboo Stewart as Frank Zhang_**

 _[THE SHAPESHIFTER] [SON OF MARS]_

 ** _Jessica Clark as Reyna_**

 _[THE LEADER] [DAUGHTER OF BELLONA]_

 ** _Jack Gleeson as Octavian_**

 _[THE ROMAN ORACLE]_

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **Three things:**

 **1) Sorry for the long cast list!**

 **2) Love interest for Piper!**

 **3) Happy ending!**

 **I am so sorry for making people upset but I must admit, I'm glad I killed Riss off because I got so many reviews telling me how upset people were because they loved Riss' character! And I love Riss too so here is the third and final installment of _The Oceans Trilogy_. I hope you enjoy this story and please, please, please REVIEW!**

 **~ Raven**


	2. BETA

_**BETA | RESURRECTION AND OTHER WAYS TO DEAL WITH BEING ONCE DEAD**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the** ** _Heroes of Olympus_** **series or any of the characters. I only own the character Nerissa Jackson and her original plot lines and dialogue.**

* * *

 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO** ** _NicoleR85_ , ****_yasminasfeir1_** **,** ** _LuckyGo_ , ****_sofioe_ , ****_lightwalnut64_ , ****_NicoleR85_** **,** ** _ThatCrazyGreekyRoman_** **AND** ** _Cari._**

* * *

"I hate you."

"No, you don't," Sander Soloman, the demigod son of Somnus, disagreed immediately. Weeks by her side had led the man to realize that despite the amounts of times she said 'I hate you,' she really meant 'don't leave me.' He flicked his sword, disarming her once again. "Forty-three to—"

"I get it!" The young woman snarled in return. She hated this—the constant baby-sitting, the constant inability to actually _leave_ Olympus. It was like she was in the army. Get up at the crack of dawn, have breakfast, training, have lunch, training, dinner, training, and the go to bed.

She was disarmed again and Sander did a small, celebratory dance that included wiggling his eyebrows and flapping his arms around. " _Forty-four_ to—"

" _Screw_. _You_!"

Sander's twin blades went flying, impaling themselves in the wall with a force that wasn't from the flick of her blade. Her eyes were flaring with power and her shoulder shook with the effort to hold herself back as her own blade fell from her loose grip. It clattered against the stone floor, a golden glow diminishing from it, as she bit her lip and let out a heavy sigh.

"Hey…" Sander murmured, reaching out for the woman, despite the fact that she turned away from him. He didn't flinch away from her power, knowing it would only scare her as well. "Hey, it's okay. You'll get the hang of this—all of it."

She was lonely and lost, he knew that. Sander had just recently returned from the Underworld, after centuries of being dead, and admittedly, she had been the one to make him feel safe again. She made him feel like he was worth something and he, unknowingly, kept her seeing the world a little brighter.

A huge weight was on her shoulders and she felt like she was being crushed by the sky.

She turned her head to burn a hole into Sander's face with her vivid green eyes. They glowed all the time, bright and acidic, and she blinked slowly, almost owlishly. Sander shifted a bit, uncomfortably, under her gaze. It always felt like she was able to stare into his soul with those eyes but he respected her and her power too much to make a comment.

"Thank you, Sandman."

Sander grinned at his nickname and reached out to grab the girl's hand. She didn't push him away—they both needed the comfort and, despite wishing that they were holding different people, their bond of friendship would alleviate a little bit of that darkness in both of their hearts.

Gently, the Soloman looped her limp fingers around the hilt of her sword. She smiled gratefully but her lips quickly pinched and her brow furrowed again. The woman slipped into a fighting position and, with his quick reflexes, grabbed the swords that flew at his face.

"You're most welcome… _Nerissa_."

 **XXXXX**

It was on an _extremely_ short break in some dead-end town at nearly ten o'clock at night that Piper McLean first saw _him_.

Piper had hoped that the outing—and getting away from Annabeth—would help Jason but it was really doing nothing. He kept staring at the notches in the dark wood of the table and she could hear his knee knocking against the underside as his leg bounced. Since Riss' death, Piper had noticed how his had was almost constantly over the pocket which held his coin.

Jason was depressed, there was no other way to describe his current mood. He barely ate, and when he did, he picked at his food. He barely slept and when he did, Jason stayed in Riss' room, wrapped up in the blankets which still smelt like her. He wore Riss' ring too, a chunky, silver thing which changed in size depending on the wearer, on his hand. Jason's fingers often flew to the ring when he was nervous and just spun it aimlessly.

It had shown up the night of Riss' 'funeral,' which had been held after they had rescued Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus. Annabeth had been _livid_ —absolutely terrifying as she screamed and cried and threatened Jason with her new sword. Percy had cried too, devastation written all over his features, but he hadn't tried to run Jason through. He had just held Annabeth close to him, away from Jason after she had punched him in the face, and the pair had disappeared to their now-shared cabin afterwards without another word.

Piper had heard both of them crying for hours, the multiple shared 'I love you' and 'don't leave me' mingling with the sounds of her own tears and the soft whimpers of Leo from next door. She didn't think Jason had cried since Riss had died but she remembered clearly what it had sounded like when he did—like his heart was shattering in his chest and he was trying to expel the sound from his body in the form of tears and sobs.

"Hey, bud…" Leo said softly, ignoring the way his voice cracked, and waved the laminated menu at his friend. "You hungry?"

"I'm fine."

 _I'm fine_ had become the biggest lie on the _Argo II_ and it was usually paired with _don't worry about me_ or _go away_. Everyone on the _Argo II_ were walking on eggshells around each other. Percy and Annabeth refused to speak to Jason, believing that he hadn't tried hard enough to save her. Leo wasn't speaking to Hazel either, he thought she could have prevented Riss' death; she was the daughter of Hades, after all. By extension, Frank wasn't speaking to Piper, Jason _or_ Leo, as he was adamantly loyal to both his girlfriend and Percy.

And poor Piper was stuck in the middle, completely alone because she didn't even have _Coach Hedge_ to keep her company.

The feeling of eyes— _his_ eyes—on her was what made her look up. And then immediately look away after their eyes locked for a few, precious seconds. He was _gorgeous_ —all dark, angular features and he was sitting alone at a table, casually reading a newspaper as he drank a cup of, what looked like, coffee. The daughter of Aphrodite figured that her interests lay more in guys like her kinda-ex-boyfriend—all blonde-haired and blue-eyed like Jason—but he drew her in, like moth to flame.

Piper shot him a smile—one that was laced with a teeny-tiny bit of power from her mom—but he didn't seem frazzled by it. Instead, he just smiled back at her, twitched his fingers in a wave in greeting and looked back to the paper.

Piper tried desperately to hide the tiny grain of hurt at his obvious dismissal and turned her attention back on her two friends—one of which was using a little bit of wind to flick salt granules around and the other who was creating a catapult out of a rubber band and a couple of icy-pole sticks.

She sighed, eyes sad as she gazed at the two boys and tried to fix a smile on her face. "Come on, pick something to eat. My treat."

 **XXXXX**

Admittedly, Sander Soloman didn't stick around Olympus _all_ the time like he was supposed to—or even _claimed_ to.

Nerissa Jackson could look after herself, like she kept telling him, and she wasn't under the impression that the older demigod was always doing what he was supposed to do. Gods, even when he said 'I'm going to be in my room,' Riss knew that he meant 'I'll be _anywhere_ but here. Olympus gives me the creeps.' The Jackson girl knew that Sander was a rebellious spirit, which she figured was probably why he hadn't been gifted immortality like his brother, Morpheus, had been.

Riss nudged her sock-covered toes at the large, stuffed dolphin at the foot of her bed. She remembered when she had got it—a summer trip with her mom and Percy, which had resulted in Percy almost being 'drowned' by an over-excitable dolphin named Bubbles. To tease him, Riss had named the stuffed animal, which she had forced Percy to buy her, after Bubbles. Riss had no idea how Aphrodite had gotten her hands on it. The older goddess had brought a number of Riss' knick-knacks from the Poseidon cabin to 'make the room feel more like home.'

She knew it sounded ungrateful but she hated the large room she was in, with its big bed and massive cupboard. All she wanted was a small box for her clothes, her old, occasionally rickety, bed in her cabin on the _Argo II_ and—

 _Jason_ , Riss realised mournfully and her fingers stretched out, searching for the warmth of his body beside her, despite the fact that she _knew_ he wouldn't be there. The thought of him made her throat tighten. She missed him so, _so_ much and she couldn't see his face again or tell him that she loved him until _Zeus_ deemed it 'time'—deemed her able to control her new powers enough without blowing Jason up.

And now, Jason thought Riss was dead, along with all her other friends _and_ her parents, when she was really just locked away in Olympus, under his father's watchful eye.

The burn in the back of her eyes, which she had gotten familiar with, returned and Riss snatched the dolphin to her chest as the tears fell and the force of her heart-broken sobs shook her shoulders.

 **XXXXX**

The _Argo II_ had never felt so lonely.

Riss wasn't laughing or making snappy comments. She wasn't running passed Percy and Annabeth as they hugged, yelling or nieces and nephews. She wasn't almost glued to Jason's side and making him blush.

The _Argo II_ was just…empty.

Percy was feeling a tidal wave of emotions but he couldn't make sense of them. He didn't hate Jason— _couldn't_ , because he knew how much Riss had loved him and how much he still loved her—but he couldn't help but feel that Riss' death had _something_ to do with Jason. Percy just couldn't figure out what. Avoiding Jason was actually hurting Percy a bit too; they had been friends after all and had been connected through Riss.

But his not-hatred for Jason wasn't the confusing thing.

No, it was the feeling that Riss was still alive. He _knew_ that his twin sister was dead—he'd been told by the entire crew, who had recounted how Riss had turned to gold dust and had been blown away—but he also knew how being without Riss felt and it didn't feel like this.

It felt like Riss was still alive—breathing, laughing, fighting—and that his mind was the only thing tricking him into believing she was gone. Percy refused to believe she was dead, especially when he could still _feel_ her to a degree, and he knew that he wouldn't stop until he found out what _really_ happened to Nerissa Jackson.

Jacksons were stubborn that way.

 **XXXXX**

Jason twirled the ring around his finger again. Once clockwise, two times anti-clockwise and repeat.

His mind was so focused on the simplistic task that it startled him when there was a knock at the door. Within a second, he was on his feet, sword out and ready to kill. Jason immediately became more defensive when Annabeth walked in.

"Here to punch me again?"

Annabeth's grey eyes flitted to the still-healing bruise over his eye. He'd refused anything to heal him and no one had offered again when he told them the only thing that could heal him was Riss back. "No…I, uh, came to apologize."

Jason blinked. He didn't know what he had expected but it certainly wasn't Miss I'm-Always-Right to apologize. Especially after she had done something that he had actually hadn't minded—it had given him just a flash of something other than grief to feel for a few seconds.

"Percy told me I should," Annabeth admitted. "But I was going to anyway. I just wasn't ready to yet."

Jason nodded slowly. "I get it. I blame myself for her death too, just so you know."

It was Annabeth's turn to blink now and she met Jason's eyes unflinchingly. There was something broken in those blue orbs and something understanding too. Annabeth had punched him because she had blamed herself—she hadn't been there, hadn't used her intellect to figure out why Riss had seemed so _off_ just minutes before her death—and she had lashed out at Jason because of it. She hadn't realized that there was a lot of self-hatred on the _Argo II_ , not just her own.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth finally said and glanced at her feet before looking up again. Jason was twirling the ring on his finger, one that was stamped with a trident, which glinted at her. "Is that…?"

"Neri's ring?" Jason began to pull it off, "Do you—?"

Annabeth quickly reached out, placing her hand over his. "No! She…she would've wanted you to have it. Besides, I found her Camp Half-Blood necklace." The daughter of Athena pulled out the bead necklace from under her shirt. "Percy got Nauticus after I was able to remove it from her other necklace. Frank got her bow and arrows, Hazel got this old-fashioned brooch that some goddess gave Riss. Uh…I think Piper got Riss' leather jacket, you know, the one she always used to wear. And Leo got…" Annabeth frowned, "I actually don't know what Leo got."

Leo hadn't been the same since Riss' death. He was taking it almost as bad as Percy was—he'd lost his best friend, a sister-figure to him, and was unable to find a way back to the woman he had fallen in love with. Annabeth knew that if Leo told Riss about Calypso, she would make a joke about how unlucky Leo was in love and then immediately try to find a way to get him back to the island. He'd barely left the engine room, save for when he needed food or a bathroom break; the son of Hephaestus was always fiddling with something he refused to let anyone see so they didn't push.

"I'll have to ask," Jason muttered, fingers still fiddling with Riss' ring.

His voice lacked enthusiasm and the Chase girl knew that he would either forget or wouldn't have it in him to ask. Annabeth shifted before she headed for the door, realizing that it was probably best if she left Jason to his own devices.

She paused, her hand on the door handle, when Jason spoke up, "Hey, Annabeth? Thanks."

The blonde girl smiled but bit her lip as she watched Jason lay back down on Riss' bed. He curled up, in something close to the fetal position, Riss' blankets wrapped around him. Annabeth didn't miss the way Jason curled his body, like he was wrapping his tall frame around a slightly smaller body—or at least, around the space the smaller body used to sleep beside him. Pity and sorrow swirled in Annabeth's gaze, a pity she knew Jason wouldn't want and she almost couldn't bring herself to leave him.

Jason Grace needed someone but the person he needed the most was Riss.

"I'll be fine."

Annabeth sighed at Jason's words, knowing that he had seen her hovering by the door. "I know you will be. We all will be. Eventually…"

 **XXXXX**

Aphrodite hummed a song as she headed to check on Riss Jackson—or _Pacalis_ as the Olympians insisted she respond to now—in her new room. The goddess could tell when the newest goddess had fixed a fake smile on her face and said that she loved the room, which had been decorated with so much glitter and pink that it should have been illegal, and wanted to make sure she was okay.

She raised her hand to flamboyantly throw the door open but froze when she heard something from inside the room.

Aphrodite pressed her ear to the door, only to huff and pull away to shove copious amounts of blonde ringlets away so that she could hear properly. When she finally managed, the woman's happy-go-lucky smile fell immediately and she closed her eyes at the sound of Pacalis' sobs reverberating from the room.

"Oh…" She murmured sadly. "Oh, this just won't do." And then Aphrodite vanished in a puff of pink smoke and glitter, headed for the throne room.

 **XXXXX**

Leo let out a slightly enraged huff and slammed his fists down into the table he was working on. "Sorry, Buford."

The table gave a shake, clearly unhappy, but it didn't walk away like it could have. Instead, Buford settled again, willing for it's creator to unleash all his pent-up rage on it—as long as there was no fire.

The Valdez boy placed his head in his hands, feeling the pressure build behind his eyes. _Nothing_ was working; he's inventions were all breaking down, like that Hephaestus curse was finally kicking in, his eyes were _always_ hurting from the lack of sleep he was getting and his dad wasn't answering his prayers for even the _tiniest_ amount of help. But what had he expected from Hephaestus or any god for that matter?

Leo breathed out a long, calming breath before moving the sheet of paper in front of him again. It was draped over ten unopened envelopes—one for each of the demigods of the prophecy, one each for Nico and Rachel and the final two were for Sally Jackson and Poseidon.

"Easy task you gave me, Riss," Leo grumbled but he was smiling, glad that Riss had trusted him enough to hand out the letters when the time was right. The son of Hephaestus turned his attention back to his own letter, letting the words bring him comfort.

 _To my little Latino elf,_

 _I know that if I ask you something important, you'll tell me the truth. So here goes…does my sword make my butt look big? Okay, joking aside. I have a job for you, Leo, and it can either save the world or end it…Up for it?_

Leo grinned at the page as he finished reading the first paragraph of many. " _Underworld_ yes."

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **I probably won't update for a while, I'm just warning you, because my exams are coming up. I really hope that you like the beginning of this story! Riss won't be a big part of the prophecy until later chapters but l** **et me know what you think about Sander! I really enjoyed writing him already and he will play a large role in _Pacific_.**

 **I would very much like at least 5 REVIEWS for the next chapter!**

 **Thanks for reading,**

 **~ Raven**


	3. GAMMA

_**GAMMA | THE DREAMS OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED AND THE WEARY**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the** ** _Heroes of Olympus_** **series or any of the characters. I only own the character Nerissa Jackson and her original plot lines and dialogue.**

* * *

 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO** ** _NicoleR85_** **, _sofioe,_** ** _DontKillMyMockingjay,_** **** ** _Says-the-Slytherin, ArticWolf4123, angelmarie1995,_** ** _DreamHunterVo,_** ** _Phoenix,_** ** _kenziehoseaa, KeepItQueer,_** ** _Cari_** **,** ** _RHatch89_ , ****_Jezel_ , _Fran,_** ** _LuckyGo_** **,** ** _yasminasfeir1_ , ****_lightwalnut64_** **,** ** _NicoleR85_** **,** ** _ThatCrazyGreekyRoman, Guest (1)_** **AND _Guest (2)._ I WAS BLOWN AWAY BY THE SUPPORT FOR THIS STORY, THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER!**

 **WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS EXTREMELY MUSHY. SANDER HAS LIKE NO CHILL AT ALL, I SWEAR. AND I APOLOGIZE FOR BREAKING JASON; IT PHYSICALLY HURTS ME TO HURT FICTIONAL CHARACTERS AND THAT IS IRRATIONAL. I NEED HELP, SEND AN AMBULANCE**

* * *

Jason woke up in a bed that wasn't his, wrapped in silky sheets and something cold on his hand chilling his bare stomach. He grumbled, rolling over and expected to fall off the bed, as the beds in the cabins on the _Argo II_ were designed for only one person.

But he didn't and Jason found his fingers hitting more bedding, all plush sheets mingled with the scent of the ocean.

He jolted up, sure that he had been kidnapped and his wide eyes took in his new surroundings. The walls were gray, like a stormy sky, with accents of sea green on all the furniture and the sheets were pure white, half-hidden under a deep blue duvet. Jason's brow furrowed and he rubbed his hands over his face, the cold jabbing into his face again as his fingers ran over his cheeks.

"What the—" Jason froze as he finally looked at his hand—specifically, at the silver band around his left ring finger. He pulled it off quickly, searching for anything to let him know what the Underworld was happening. And then he found it and his heart stopped at the single word engraved into the silver.

 _Together._

Jason jumped up, fear—and _hope_ —seeping into his body and he nearly ran out of the bedroom. He found himself in the kitchen, facing the back of a dark-haired woman as she hummed and fixed herself a coffee. The silk dressing gown brushed against the back of her thighs as she danced around by the coffee maker.

"I must be dreaming," Jason murmured, eyes wide and the woman spun around.

Nerissa Jackson rolled her eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Morning, lazy bones. You know, just because I'm _actually_ in the kitchen for a change, doesn't mean you're dreaming." She slid the cup full of coffee towards him as Jason sat down on one of the stools lining the kitchen counter, "It just means that I felt like making my husband a coffee in the morning."

Jason gaped. He felt completely frozen and now he _knew_ he was dreaming. There was an odd quality to his vision too, like there were ripples in his peripheral vision and Jason shook his head.

"It's…it's impossible that you're here."

"Yep," Riss agreed with a gentle smile. "You said that after you proposed—with a lightning show, of all things—and I didn't run then. But like I've always said: together. So it's not _too_ impossible then. Now, come on, drink your coffee before Percy and Annie come to visit. They want my help with some wedding prep."

The son of Jupiter reached out, catching Riss' hands in his over the counter before she could exit the room to get dressed. He drew her to him, tugging at her hand to make her walk towards him. "I love you."

Riss laughed, her long hair cascading down her back and she walked out from behind the counter. " _We_ love you too." Jason's mouth fell open as he took in Riss' protruding stomach and his hands fell to his _wife's_ stomach in awe. "You always make the same face, like you're shocked every morning."

" _I love you_ ," Jason repeated. He tried desperately to remind himself that this was all a dream—that Riss was dead and they weren't older and married and expecting a child. He was only sixteen, Riss, seventeen, but he had wanted this life for them in the future—not perfect but perfect for them. "I'll _always_ love you."

The daughter of Poseidon smiled sadly and she seemed more out-of-focus, more self-aware and sadder than she had been when he had walked into the kitchen. She reached out her left hand to caress Jason's face, her own silver band, along with a small sapphire ring, sliding across his skin. He closed his eyes at the feeling, knowing it would be the last time he would ever feel her touch, and his hands sought her rounded stomach. Jason caressed at his _wife's_ stomach, over their _child_ and his tears wet Riss' palm.

"I know. But you need to _wake up_." Riss glared at something behind Jason's head and he caught a glimpse of hot pink and bright blonde hair, "And for gods' sakes, _stop_ messing with his head!"

 **XXXXX**

It was clear more than usual that Jason was upset the next morning. He was quieter, more sullen than usual.

Jason didn't think that he would ever have to live without Riss; he also knew that he loved her more than anything and that he would never love anyone as much as he loved Nerissa Jackson. They were both young, yes, but demigods didn't tend to live long enough to have a 'happily ever after' or to even question if their 'ever after' was going to be happy.

Piper had noticed immediately and offered to take everyone out to lunch. Everyone was willing to go, except for Jason, and Percy offered to stay behind with him. The entire crew was worried that Jason would go off to fight a monster when he wasn't in his right mind and get himself killed, so they were all taking turns 'baby-sitting' him.

"What's up, man?" Percy asked from the doorway of Riss' room. Jason was sitting on the edge of the bed, his elbows balanced on his knees and his head in his hands.

Jason glanced up. He seemed to be weighing up telling the twin brother of his dead girlfriend what was troubling him. Finally, he dropped his hands and set his jaw, "I think Aphrodite is messing with me."

"Aphrodite?"

"Or someone," Jason grumbled. "But how many people do you know that wear full hot pink outfits? I had a dream about Nerissa…"

Percy furrowed his brows and sat down beside his friend. "What about Neri?"

Jason let out a laugh, sounding annoyed with himself. "We were _married_ , living together in a small apartment." Percy listened with interest, not saying a word. "Neri kept rushing me to drink my coffee so I could get ready before you and Annabeth came to visit." Jason wet his lips and turned his head to fix his glassy eyes on Percy's sea green ones. "She was _pregnant_ , Percy. It…it was just a dream but I was going to be a _dad_. No monsters, no gods—just Neri and I, living happily, with a baby on the way."

"And you want that," Percy concluded. Jason nodded slowly and Percy smiled in understanding. He wanted a life with Annabeth like Jason's dream of a life with Riss—university degree, nice apartment, married life and maybe a few kids. "Maybe you can."

"But Neri is _dead_."

The Jackson boy looked down, "I don't think she is." Jason's head snapped to him, shock written all over his features and Percy kept going. "I don't _feel_ like she's gone and I trust my instincts more than the gods. Did Neri ever tell you how our mom 'died'?"

Jason nodded, "Yeah. She turned into—" Realization flashed over Jason's face, " _Gold dust_. Neri told Nico that Hades was going to look after her. You don't think…that Hades took her for the gods?"

"She made a deal with Zeus didn't she?"

"Yeah." Jason scrubbed at his eyes and Percy noticed that Jason had moved the ring that Riss used to wear to his left ring finger—where his wedding ring in the dream would have been. "She could be alive."

Percy smiled, "Yep. And now we just need to find out where she is."

 **XXXXX**

Piper figured out that her mother had done something after she sat down in the café and had a long, hard think about Jason over a caramel latte and some weird mixed berry scone that was way too sour to finish. Her brows had remained pinched in annoyance for hours and eventually, Frank had suggested that they all go their separate ways for a while. And despite Leo's insistence to stay with Piper—he had become increasingly protective of his sister-figure since Riss had died—the daughter of Aphrodite had, rather guiltily, used some charmspeak to get the boy to leave.

Piper pulled her knife from the inner pocket of her—formerly _Riss'_ —leather jacket and eyed Katoptris. For a long time, Helen of Troy's blade had only given her vaguely helpful visions but it had failed to predict Riss' death. Piper's hand tightened around the hilt; the knife should have helped save Riss.

"You look about ready to stab someone."

The McLean girl's head snapped up at as the words registered in her mind and she gaped at Coffee Boy. He was smiling serenely at her and slid into the booth, lacing his fingers together.

"You mean you can—"

"See that wicked sharp knife that you're staring into? Yeah, I'm a demigod too." The dark-haired boy— _man_ , really, as he seemed older than Percy, who was almost eighteen—winked at Piper. "I'm Sander Soloman. So, what's on your mind, babe?"

Piper opened her mouth, then closed it, before she realized she was doing a pretty good interpretation of a fish. Maybe she could call Percy to translate for her…And then Piper froze, having picked up on the pet name Sander had just given her and a hot blush flared to life in her cheeks.

 **XXXXX**

A blast of sea air threw open the doors of Aphrodite's chambers and she jumped up from the bed she had been reclining on. The icy, terrifying expression the woman had seen on her uncle's face before frightened her even more as it twisted Riss' pretty features. It was insisted on that Riss wear 'goddess-worthy' clothes and her dress almost caught on her heel as she stormed towards Aphrodite but she didn't let if faze her.

The blonde woman rose her hands in a placating gesture, "Pacalis—"

"My name is _Nerissa_ ," Riss snarled, stalking closer to the goddess of love. "Tell me you didn't screw with Jason's mind; tell me you didn't taunt him with what we could have had if I hadn't made that deal! For the love of the gods, Aphrodite, tell me you actually had a _heart_ for once!"

"I was trying to help him through his grief!"

"You were _trying_ to mess with his heart!" Riss' fingers drifted to the new weapon at her hip, the one that represented her perfectly. Before she had become Pacalis, Riss' demigod self and her destiny had rivaled, leaving her with weapons—her sword, Nauticus, and her bow and arrows—that didn't represent her as a person. And now, the long, silver spear with prongs that shot out to make a deadly trident. "Tell me you didn't…"

"I can't tell you that," Aphrodite admitted and Riss jumped forward, her arms outstretched like she was about to strangle the life out of the goddess.

Aphrodite let out a frightened squeak and disappeared in a puff of pink glitter. Riss shook her head and lowered her arms, flapping at the glitter which flew into her eyes.

"Dammit!" She raised her left arm, a collection of silver bangles falling down her arm as she brought a sapphire-imbedded silver cuff closer to her face. "Sander? Sandman, get your ass back up here."

 **XXXXX**

Sander was proud of himself.

Piper McLean hadn't stopped laughing the entire time they had spoken and they hadn't been interrupted once. Leo had been smart enough to steer the rest of the demigods away from the table Piper and Sander were at and the Valdez boy was instead sitting a good distance away, eyeing the man carefully. The others busied themselves with eating and talking, except for Annabeth, who idly spun her knife on the table and allowed herself to mourn and think.

At one point, Leo lit his finger on fire and waved it threateningly at Sander. The Soloman demigod had gulped and awkwardly looked down at the table.

But before long though, Sander was speaking animatedly again, telling Piper all about his latest quest. Of course, his latest quest was millennium ago but Piper had yet to realize that the man talking to her with the pretty eyes and the sharp jawline that could cut glass was almost older than dirt.

"So, who are you the demigod son of?" Piper asked politely. She wasn't sure if that was a question you could just casually ask someone you just met so she asked carefully, allowing Sander to ignore the question.

Thankfully, Sander seemed okay with the question. "Somnus."

"Somnus?" Piper searched her memory for the name before her eyes widened, "The _Roman_ counterpart of Hypnos, father of Morpheus?"

"The one and only," Sander grinned rakishly and moved his fingers over the rim of his coffee cup. He knew that Piper had not had a good past with Roman demigods but they had spoken for a while, so hopefully she'd trust him. "Haven't seen dad in a while. He's been too busy kicking Morph's ass for siding with Kronos."

Piper tried not to smile, "You call the _god_ _of dreams_ 'Morph?'"

"He's my big brother," Sander shrugged. "Why wouldn't I have an embarrassing nickname for him that I use in public? Morph is a god but he's not _the_ god, there's a big difference."

The McLean girl nodded contemplatively. She understood what Sander was saying but she didn't have a sister or brother—not a full sibling anyway—to compare the situation with. And Sander was right in the sense that Morpheus was, although a god, still accountable for trying to kill all the Olympians and deserved to be punished.

"I think if I tried that with some of my siblings, they'd stab me."

Sander nodded in agreement, "Venus—I mean, _Aphrodite's_ —kids aren't all sugar, spice and all things nice. I've had a few run-ins with your siblings in the past."

"Huh. Not as nice as me?" Piper was shocked by the flirtatious edge to her voice and Sander's grin widened.

"Not nearly as pretty too. Hey, Piper—" The Soloman cut himself off, his eyes flashing acid green for a second and he stood up quickly, startling Piper. "Sorry, my patron is calling. It was nice speaking to you, Piper. I hope we can do it again some time."

Piper froze, hand drifting to her dagger at the words, "It depends. Your _patron_ : Hera or…Gaea?"

"Someone cooler and ten times more powerful than Dirt Face," Sander winked. "Better fashion sense too. She says that's she's glad her jacket looks good on you."

The McLean girl gasped, opening her mouth to demand what the Underworld Sander meant. The jacket had only belonged to one person—but Sander was already leaving the diner. Before Piper even stood up, Sander was turning the corner into the alley beside the diner and she saw a flash of dark blue light.

Piper jumped to her feet, breathing heavily, and Leo appeared beside his friend. "Hey, what's up? That guy do something?"

"No…" Piper breathed in reassurance. "Just…something he said."

 **XXXXX**

Percy was not as fragile as Annabeth seemed to think.

Apparently, because he hadn't completely broken apart at Riss' death—yes, it had hit him hard, ten times harder than losing a normal ally—and had continued to function like usual, Annabeth seemed to think that her boyfriend had yet to accept what had happened to his twin sister.

She acted like he was going to break—arriving early in the morning before he woke up to slide into bed with him to hug him close, carefully avoiding all mention of Riss in any conversation that even remotely steered close to the topic of the deceased daughter of Poseidon.

But Percy wasn't fragile and he wasn't breaking to pieces.

Annabeth was still grieving herself and she wasn't allowing herself to the time to _really_ mourn Riss. Instead, it was short moments, here or there, when her mind wasn't completely cluttered with facts and there was a lull in things to distract her. And when Annabeth's gray eyes clouded over, it was Percy's turn to support her.

The son of Poseidon couldn't tell Annabeth what he thought about his sister's death—he had told Jason because he had been just as unwilling to accept Riss' death—but Annabeth had read enough psychology textbooks (in her spare time). She would think herself an expert and would simply put Percy's beliefs to being his way of grieving and try to help him 'realize' that Riss was dead and nothing could change that.

Percy sighed, pressing his fingertips into his eyes, "Gods, why can't life be simple?"

"That's the question," Jason agreed. He was reclined on Riss' bed, arm thrown over his eyes. His stomach rumbled occasionally but he was too exhausted to get up. Percy shot him a look from where he was sitting against the wall.

"You didn't need to agree."

"You didn't need to say it out loud."

The two didn't tend to get along, their egos clashing on so many occasions. It was similar with Zeus and Poseidon—Thalia and Percy had gotten along as often as their fathers had—and it seemed that it worked the same way with sons of Jupiter and Poseidon. But they could get along when they needed to, they'd proven that in battles and, when it came to Riss, the two boys were the best tag-teaming bodyguards there were.

Jason propped himself up, fingers tangling in the sheets—cream and smelling of whatever detergent the probably-named washing machine used—and he vaguely wished for the dream again. He shook his head, quickly clearing his thoughts, "We need a plan."

"Yeah, we do." Percy set his jaw, "But there's not much we can do when we've got no idea what deal Riss made. Or if she's even alive at all."

 **XXXXX**

The gods were useless, selfish and cruel.

Aphrodite had proven to Riss, once again, that the gods only thought of themselves. She hadn't given the dream to Jason to help him through the grieving process. No, she had done it taunt him and break his heart once again. The gods only did things to achieve their own ends, not to help their children protect mortals.

And that was why Riss would _never_ be the perfect little goddess that Zeus wanted as his soldier against the giants. She was too headstrong, still too _mortal_ , to mindlessly follow orders like the good little minor goddess she was supposed to be. That was probably why Zeus was keeping a close eye on her and keeping her locked away in Olympus like some fairytale princess with infernal curiosity or an irrational sense of adventure.

Sander appeared in Riss' room in a flash of blue light and a sea breeze—the Jackson girl's calling card—and dropped down onto her bed with a huff. He still wasn't used to being teleported around when he was called by his patron, especially because he only got a twenty-second warning before he was teleported from wherever he was.

"What's up, sea breeze?" Riss gave Sander a dead look and he pursed his lips, nodding, "Right…I should think of something else. What's up?"

"I'm done," the sea-green-eyed girl announced, waving her hands out. "I'm _done_ being under Zeus' thumb. It's time I do something—and I'm going to help my friends _finally_ be safe. Wanna help?"

Sander smirked, winking at his patron, "You got it. Let's kick some ass."

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **UNEDITED**

 **I'm so sorry for going MIA! But I hope you like this chapter, it's really mushy at the beginning but I was trying to convey how insensitive the gods are and how they are directly affecting the mental health of just about everyone. Riss should be back with the gang in the next chapter or the chapter after.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW!**

 **~ Raven**


	4. DELTA

_**DELTA | SHE'S IN ALL HER GODDESS GLORY**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the** ** _Heroes of Olympus_** **series or any of the characters. I only own the character Nerissa Jackson and her original plot lines and dialogue.**

* * *

 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO** ** _NicoleR85_** **,** ** _yasminasfeir1_** ** _,_** _ **sofioe**_ , **_DontKillMyMockingjay,_** ** _FoxGurrl_** ** _,_** ** _SurvivingMinx, AValeriaA, iwaizoomi, Spunky89,_** _ **ilovethisfanfic**_ , **_DreamHunterVo,_** ** _RHatch89_** **,** ** _Guest (1), Guest (2), Guest (3), Guest (4), Guest (5), Guest (6)_** **AND** ** _TheGirlWhoFlew_** ** _._**

 _ **iwaizoomi:**_ I love that Piper can be great without a man, she's been strong alone the entire series that I've written, and I'm all for feminism but I also want to use the same kind of thing that Percy and Annabeth have. They're stronger together than apart and I want Piper to have a person by her side, in the romantic sense like Sander, who can make her stronger.

 ** _I. AM. ALIVE. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE CONTINUOUS SUPPORT, I LOVE YOU ALL._**

* * *

"Welcome to our daily meeting where we complain about the current banes out our existence and how we're going to kick ass. We also stay on a flying ship all day so there's really nothing else for us to do except become _really_ bitter towards Dirt Face." Leo clapped his hands together and grinned, "I'm _excited_ —this whole _the injustice_ thing makes me feel like a superhero. You know, I'm getting the whole Justice League talking about the Injustice League's latest weapon—"

Annabeth lifted tired gray eyes up to Leo's smiling face. Something about him—something about _everyone_ really—seemed to be bugging her lately and, while everyone else were smart enough to tread carefully, Leo didn't care. He was almost high on over-sugared coffee, motor oil fumes and his own success to care much these days. And grief. Yeah, grief made him a bit nutty too but, _psh_ , he wasn't going to tell anyone that having dreams about Riss talking to him like she was still alive and just down the hall was making him deprive himself of _a bit_ of sleep.

The daughter of Athena scowled, "Shut up, Leo."

The cheeky grin widened, " _Hey_ , don't shoot the messenger."

"I think _I'm_ the messenger," Frank corrected with an eye roll. "My dad appeared to me in dream last night. Something about a new war—between a new goddess and a new giantess…an _anti-goddess_? Is that the term we'd use?"

"I still like _bane_ ," Percy hummed casually. His eyes were rimmed with dark bags, like Jason and Annabeth, but his grin— _Riss' grin_ —was present as usual. "Or just _giant_. New goddess though? How does someone just _make_ a goddess?"

Hazel frowned, "Didn't the gods want to make _you_ a god?"

The Jackson boy shrugged, "They _offered_ —barely any of them actually _wanted_ me as a god. They did a vote though." He nudged his girlfriend's elbow, a teasing look in his eyes, "I would be a pretty crappy god, don't you think?"

Annabeth hummed noncommittally, turning her attention back to the book in front of her that she was frantically scribbling in. Percy let out a sad sigh but he smiled gratefully as Jason lightly tapped him on the shoulder supportively.

"I've been seeing something," Piper offered after a moment, gesturing down to the dagger hanging at her waist.

She looked remarkably put together for a girl who hadn't slept all night—losing Riss and her odd encounter with Sander had put her on edge and she hadn't been able to switch her mind off all night. _Sander_ was the biggest problem—he knew something he wasn't telling anyone of them and she wanted to know where he came from. The daughter of Aphrodite had stared at the ceiling for hours before she'd turned her attention to Katoptris and had gasped as she saw hundreds of spirits gathering in a palace as they plotted. She explained it quickly to her friends, whose eyes widened in worry and, when she finally took a breath for air, Hazel bit her lip like she wanted to say something.

Finally, she did and everyone knew it wasn't going to be good news. It never was for them. "I've been sensing something too. The biggest gathering of evil spirits I've ever sensed…it's in the ancient palace of Odysseus and they're waiting—"

"—for Gaia's orders," Annabeth finished in a murmur as her red pen dipped down to circle something on the page. She flipped her book around to show the others and they eyed the list of names on the pages, "I've been drafting down who Gaia could want back from the dead, to fight for her, and I think I know who could be in Ithaca."

Leo eyed the two words circled in red. "Who are _the suitors_? Sounds like a bad name for an eighties rock band."

Jason's eyes almost bugged out of his head, " _The suitors_? They were a hundred of the greediest, evilest cut-throats who'd ever lived. When Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, went missing after the Trojan War, they invaded his palace and refused to leave, each one hoping to marry Queen Penelope and take over the kingdom."

"I take it he stopped them?"

"Well, yeah," the Grace boy agreed. "Odysseus slaughtered them all."

" _Fun_ ," Percy muttered. He frowned suddenly, fingers tapping a brief pattern against the rope bracelet around his wrist. The Jackson boy had yet to take the nautical-themed bracelet off, too frightened to lose his last links to Riss to even _think_ about taking it off. He also got the impression that his dad wanted him to have it, given how it had turned up in his room after the _funeral_ and had glowed with an unnatural blue light until he had picked it up. "Uh, guys, what does _Angustia_ mean?"

Jason answered immediately, mind working immediately to translate the phrase, "Distress. It's Latin. Why?"

The sea-green-eyed boy bit his lip. "Someone's been whispering it to me at night. And…it's a voice I recognize; I don't get it, the voice is there every night but I never see anything. It's just black and I keep hearing _Angustia_."

"And you think this is the new giant?"

Percy nodded to Piper, "If Angustia is the anti-goddess to the new one the gods just created and if she's distress…"

Piper smiled, "Then let's pray that the goddess is a bit nicer."

"Fingers crossed," Leo grinned. His eyes lit up with an almost manic light as his fingers fiddled with the little materials in his hands that was somehow resembling a mini bow and arrow that he was lifting up to aim at Frank's head. "But, uh, Hazel, what did you say about a palace and a whole bunch of dead guys?"

 **XXXXX**

Admittedly, Riss was being the _tiniest_ bit creepy.

She watched her friends like a hawk, using a mirror—gifted to her by the woman filled with sparkles and a bad attitude before they had their _minor_ falling out—and she simply had to wave a glowing hand over the glass to be connected to the pretty little contraption in the _Argo II_. It was a glorified mirror which had been made from the instructions in a letter written by a dead girl for a boy who manipulated fire.

The daughter of Poseidon, and new goddess, waved her hand elegantly. The reflection of her own face—completely different to how she usually looked with deeply-red stained lips, long lashes and hair styled in elaborate ringlets at the top of her head—shimmered for a moment before it disappeared and was replaced with another face.

A face she knew well. The face of her favorite little Latino elf. He was alone at the table, fingers moving eagerly over the surface of his newest creation that he could barely see in the light of the small oil lamp beside his head in the dark. And he froze, spine locked up tight, as soon as he recognized who was staring back at him.

"Hello, Leo."

Leo glared but it lacked a certain heat, too relieved to be feeling anything remotely close to hatred. "You little shit! I thought you were _dead_."

Riss smiled sadly, "And, in a manner of speaking, _I am_."

"I hate you."

"I know."

The Valdez tried to hide the tears filling his eyes, "I _really_ hate you. You left us. Percy's falling apart all the time or just kinda staring at nothing, Annabeth snaps at everyone, Piper's trying to look after us all and won't think about herself, Hazel can barely be away from Frank's side without worrying about losing him and Frank's the same. And don't get me started on Jason! He's just a mess in general!"

"I know."

"And you don't care!?"

Riss' eyes filled with tears, " _Of course_ , I do. But orders…are orders. I can't leave Olympus, I can't speak to anyone I used to know—if Zeus had his way, he'd have me forget that I was ever human."

Leo's eyebrow quirked, "But you're talking to me now…"

Riss scoffed, smiling widely, "I figured that even though I have a new title, it doesn't mean I should be any different. I _never_ listen to orders, Leo Valdez, and neither do you. I have to go but I'm going to be back soon."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Don't try me," the Jackson girl smiled. "I _promise_ , Leo, I will be back soon. Now, please, get some sleep for a change. Just dream of that girl of yours and wait until I'm there to help you get back to her."

Leo smiled, watching as Riss' image began to fade. He didn't ask how she knew about Calypso, didn't need to because Riss had that same look in her eyes as Hazel had when she had told him to _spill_ as soon as he got back from Ogygia. They both knew, had both been able to sense, that something had been weighing Leo down as soon as they saw him and they both loved him enough to ask what was wrong.

"See you then."

 **XXXXX**

Angustia let out a roar of anger. She had been tracking the little goddess ever since her ascension into Olympus. Nerissa Jackson had evaded capture, and death, at every turn, even after Angustia had attempted to invade the young demigoddess' mind and she was losing her patience. The ghosts around her, the most cutthroat warriors available, shifted around her, being effected by the very distress and rage she could influence. While Nerissa had been designed to create peace— _not_ like the goddess Eirene, who didn't really care what was happening at the moment—and was created for the sole purpose of bringing the Romans and Greeks together against Gaea and her children.

Percy could barely see the giantess—she wasn't very tall, even slightly shorter than Otis and Ephialtes—but her face was shrouded in shadow and all he could see was the hand hovered over the edge of the throne. Her nails were chipped and, if he looked close enough, the Jackson boy could've _sworn_ that there was some blood under there. It probably didn't help that even in his dream, Percy could _smell_ what could only be the scent of _death_ in the cave that the giantess had claimed for her home. It wasn't even a very nice cave, very mildew and overall really gross, and that was coming from the boy who'd been in Tartarus before and had eaten some _questionable_ things in his time.

"I want her dead!"

"She will be…" The timid empousa at the giantess' feet shook as Angustia turned her dark eyes on her. Percy had never been fond of empousai but to see one, even just in his dreams, a whimpering, shaking mess was a shock to the system. "I swear it, mighty Angustia! Pacalis will be dead!"

A large hand slapped down over the empousa and Percy sneezed as dust flew into his face. And then he gagged as he realized it _wasn't_ just dust—Angustia raised her hand, flapping it to remove some of the dust, what was left of the empousa, and a bright red stiletto heel that was very similar to one of the ones Piper had thrown at him once when her mother had been meddling with her wardrobe. Percy had just happened to be passing the daughter of Aphrodite's cabin at the time with Riss and clocked a red stiletto to the face—Riss hadn't stopped laughing until the second one had flown out to join the first in _her_ face.

"She better be! I do not like _failures_." The shifting spirits seemed to be calming and Angustia's eyes flashed as she swung her head around, "Can you smell that?"

Could they smell that? Percy assumed he was the _that_ they were complaining about and despite the fact that he had just finished some sword training with Jason, he knew he didn't stink.

"Like… _sea breeze_ …" She let out another roar, standing from her throne and the walls shook. Her face came into view and Percy gulped. Angustia was all sunken cheeks and sharp cheekbones, her eyes were surrounded with a black paint that disappeared into her eyebrows and trailed over the bridge of her nose. " _Pacalis_! I can smell you—come out, you weak-willed little girl and I will feast on your bones!"

"Now, now…" Percy froze, his breath catching in his throat. It _couldn't_ be. "There's no need for name calling. Or eating me."

 _It was_. Nerissa Jackson in all her goddess glory stepped into the light, hand already at her hip where her spear sat. Percy almost ran forward and yelled for her, almost broke down in tears as Riss smiled up at the giantess, smiling that same cocky smile that the Jackson twins had always shared.

"Riss…"

" _Nerissa_." Angustia said it very differently to Percy and she advanced on the girl who could only be described as _small_ in comparison. "I am your greatest foe and I will teach you the meaning of _true_ pain. I will peel the flesh from your bones, grind your bones down to dust and—"

"Let me stop you there," Riss raised a hand and Angustia _actually_ fell silent. "I know _true pain_ —I turned to _dust_ and am now forced to watch my family grieve for me from a castle in the freaking sky. I also quite like my flesh on my body, so it's going to be staying there, thanks."

Angustia cracked a wicked smile, "I will enjoy kill you, little goddess."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Angustia let out a snarl, steps echoing as she ran at the dark-haired girl who had yet to move and just as Percy opened his mouth to yell her name, Riss looked at him. _Really_ looked at him and smiled gently, reassuringly, before Percy was shooting up in his bed on the _Argo II_ as he tried to learn how to breathe again. Annabeth, from beside him in bed, didn't even so much as stir but turned her body closer into her boyfriend's side. Percy let himself relax, lying back down to bury his face in Annabeth's wild curls and hold her tight to his chest, seeking a sliver of comfort.

Percy had been right, Riss was alive.

And she was probably doing something incredibly reckless because that was what children of Poseidon did and he wasn't there beside her.

 **XXXXX**

"This is a stupid idea."

"You've said. About a _hundred_ times now."

Sander nodded his head frantically, long legs keeping in time with Riss' quick steps down the marbled halls of the home of the Olympians. "It's because you're going to get yourself _killed_. First, you went up against the _literal_ bane of your existence without me and I had to actually drag you out of that cave, kicking and screaming, to save your life. And now, you want to go back to Olympus to _pick up a few things_ despite the fact that Zeus will be gunning for your blood."

" _First_ ," Riss mocked, "I can't die. I'm a demi-goddess now."

"Which is like a goddess on _probation_."

" _And now_ ," the sea-green-eyed girl continued as if Sander hadn't spoken at all, "Zeus is _not_ gunning for me. I disobeyed _one_ order—Apollo has done it, like, a million more times than me and he hasn't been thrown from Olympus yet."

Sander smiled sarcastically, "Key word: _yet_. And, besides, I wouldn't be using old Hot-Head as an example. I've had a bet, two drachmas, going with Hades for the past century that one day Zeus will have enough and make Apollo into a yak or something."

"Demigod with no abilities; five drachmas and I'm going to win," Riss commented lightly, referring to her own running bet with the King of the Underworld. She had faith in her bet too—she'd always been good with wagers—and she wasn't about to lose to the man who barely ever saw the sun, let alone the god of it. "Maybe even stick him with a crappy name just to go _that'll teach you for next time_."

"It'd be the third time."

Riss reached her door and Sander pushed it open for her. "He won't kill me. He _needs_ me—obviously he does if he wanted a _Jackson_ as a goddess!—but he's not going to keep it under his hat that he hates my guts."

Sander pursed his lips. It was no secret in Olympus that Zeus and _Pacalis_ didn't get along too well but aside from the initial stiffness around each other, the pair had managed to begin working cooperatively. And that was due to no small amount on Sander and Hera's part, the goddess had made herself very clear about her determination to keep her husband in line and Pacalis willing to complete her job. The young goddess wasn't going to remain quiet and willing for long though, she was like her father in that sense with the annoying rebellious streak that sent her into danger.

"You're not going to get _me_ killed, are you?" Sander asked, dropping onto Riss' bed as she hurried around the room collecting her belongings, which really were like rented items from Aphrodite. "Because I just got out of the Underworld and I _really_ don't want to go back. There's only so many times that you can listen to Persephone telling the same story about being kidnapped by Hades and how he never appreciates her properly. I _do_ miss Macaria though, she was always great and boy, could she make a great chocolate cake."

"A goddess made you cake?" Riss rolled her eyes and swung her bag onto her shoulder, having packed quickly and changed from her _hideous_ white dress (which was just a bit stained with dirt and blood, even ripped in some places, from her fight with Angustia) into her usual jeans and spare leather jacket. "Actually, don't answer that. Come on, let's just get out of here."

Sander offered his arm to the demi-goddess, "Never thought I would _want_ to leave Olympus but here I am."

"Shut up."

The light, blue like usual, flashed around them and Sander collapsed to his side on the wooden floor. He let out a groan, never one for sky travel and _gods_ , was teleporting around hard! Riss raised a brow, scoffing as the young man complained like a soccer player—completely exaggerated and Sander even cracked open one of his eyes to see if Riss cared. She didn't, he was faking.

"Get up," the dark-haired girl instructed and she gripped the son of Somnus' arm, pulling him up easily with her supernatural strength. "Where did you even take us? I thought I said my father's kingdom and this is a ship in the—" Riss finally glanced up from the boy on the ground, rolling around like an idiot, and took notice of where she was standing, on the deck of the _Argo II_ , "— _holy shit_ , you didn't! Sandman!"

" _Neri_ …?"

And Nerissa Jackson closed her eyes, blocking herself from the pain that would surely come, as Jason Grace took a startled step closer to her.

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **UNEDITED**

 **I'm sorry I've been gone so long but I'm back and, hopefully, I can update a lot more often. I'm aiming for a spinoff too, I mentioned a goddess called Macaria who is the main character in the spinoff book (if I manage to finally write it).**

 **Please, please review and let me know what you'd like to see in this book because I'm honestly going through a little bit of writer's block!**

 **~ Raven**


	5. EPSILON

_**EPSILON | DEAD...BUT ONLY FOR A BIT THERE**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the** ** _Heroes of Olympus_** **series or any of the characters. I only own the character Nerissa Jackson and her original plot lines and dialogue.**

* * *

 **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO** ** _NicoleR85_** **,** ** _yasminasfeir1,_** _ **sofioe**_ , _**angelmarie1995,**_ ** _Arianna Le Fay_ _,_ _CalebIsACactus_ _, Cari_ _, RHatch89_** **AND _ILovIceCream97._**

* * *

As much as Riss wanted to run— _far, far away to another freaking galaxy_ —from Jason's searching gaze, she didn't. Because she _couldn't_. Riss' powers had a lock on them, unfortunately, so she couldn't leave even if she wanted to; she hadn't been _authorized_ to leave Olympus without _an escort_ , also known as _Sander Soloman_ , so he was the only one who could teleport at the moment and had, therefore, become her ticket in and out of places she didn't want to be present at.

And, extra unfortunately, Sander didn't want to leave the _Argo II_ , if the dreamy, love-heart eyes that he was exchanging with Piper said anything about it.

So, there was Riss Jackson, seated at the table with Sander hovering behind her like an _under_ grown bodyguard and seven pairs of eyes on her. Frank had even reached out to poke Riss in the face, only to sit back sharply to cradle his slapped hand and, confirm as if the others didn't know, that Riss was real. Hazel had given him a dead look at that and begun the interrogation herself, given that no one else seemed in the right mindset to start asking the once-dead girl actual questions.

"You were dead."

"For a bit there, actually." Riss tapped her fingers nervously against the tabletop, refusing to look anyone in the eyes, "Underworld wasn't remarkably fun but Persephone makes a _really_ good pomegranate tart."

Percy snickered under his breath before he rolled his eyes. "Come on, sis. No jokes."

"Buzzkill," Riss grumbled. "I was dead for about a week but it felt like a lot longer—you know how screwed up time is in the Underworld—because, despite his deal with Zeus, Hades refused to _relinquish_ me to Olympus. But I was finally let go and old Lightning Bolt started _training_ me to be about as arrogant as him."

"She likes to think that it didn't work. I don't agree."

"Shove it up your ass, Sandman."

"Just putting in my two cents."

"No one freaking asked for them."

Sander winked at the crew, "See? _Arrogance_." The young man's lips stretched into a friendly smile, "I'm Sander Soloman, by the way, but my friends call me Sandman. Son of Somnus and former long-term occupant of the Fields of Punishment."

Riss covered her face with her hands as the other demigods blinked. "Sandman, remember when I mentioned how you need to think about some of the things that come out of your mouth before you actually say them? _That_ was one of them."

"I'm not a _criminal_ ," the dark-haired man scoffed. "I just a brief run-in with old Corpse Breath after I tried to run away with his wife."

"That was _you_?" Jason asked, shock coloring his voice. He clarified for his friends, "It was a legend, really. A few hundred years ago, a demigod travelled to the Underworld to complete a task. Apparently, Pluto didn't take kindly to how Proserpina—the Roman form of Persephone—was looking at the demigod, so he threw him out before the demigod could fulfil his quest. The demigod went back to the Underworld—"

"And offered to take Proserpina away, only for her to reject him and Pluto then punished the demigod for centuries," Sandman finished. He shook his head, "I know, I know, I've heard the story and so has every other Roman demigod. But it's not true. My quest was actually given to me from Ceres to rescue Proserpina from the Underworld. I was just arrogant enough to think that she wanted to leave."

Riss nodded in agreement, "Sander didn't run when the Doors of Death opened, so Hades rewarded him." The acid-green-eyed girl rolled her eyes, shaking her head, "Not really much of a reward when you're passed over to Hera and given the almighty task of _babysitting_."

"A baby would give me less trouble."

" _Fight me_ , Sleepy."

Sander jerked his head back, completely affronted, "Oh, _try me_ , Seaweed!"

"I think you mean _Seaweed Brain_ ," Riss gestured at her twin brother, with raised brows, "and that's _him_. Besides, if we ever fought, I'd kick your ass with my eyes closed. Just say when and where."

The sound of a chair scraping over the wood flooring made Riss turn her head, catching a brief glimpse of golden hair as Jason hurried from the room like a harpy out of the Underworld. Riss sighed, ducking her chin to her chest before she pushed herself out of her own chair.

"I…should go speak to him."

Annabeth, despite having been silent throughout the brief interrogation, spoke up with a tiny smile, "Go on, we've all missed you but he needs you right now." She got up, dragging the raven-haired girl into a _break your ribs_ kind of hug, whispering, "Gods, I missed you, Nerissa." Then, she pulled back and punched the daughter of Poseidon in the arm, "But don't _ever_ disappear on us again!"

"I'll try," Riss promised before hugging Annabeth quickly. "I really missed you all too, Annie. Please don't think otherwise."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Riss walked from the room and the blonde sat back down, turning her sharp, stormy eyes on Sander, "What's happening? You're not here just to be a babysitter, are you? A Roman demigod, protecting a Greek… _goddess_? It doesn't add up."

Sander smirked, collapsing into Riss' vacated seat, "Love the brains, Blondie." Percy glared and the older boy raised his hands, " _Right_. You're spoken for, got it."

Piper scowled— _not jealous, not jealous_ —across the table, "Answer Annabeth's question. We know Riss, we _trust_ Riss; we don't know you."

The dark-haired mans snorted, shaking his head, " _Please_ , you don't know her any better than you know me. She's different now, _powerful_ , and she's an entirely different person with different responsibilities. Riss doesn't exist anymore."

" _Dramatic_ ," Leo muttered in a sing-song voice, nudging wires around in front of him. "She can't be _that_ different if she wanted to come back here, right?"

Sander blinked in surprised, brow creasing as he realized, "You really don't remember anything…"

Hazel tilted her head, "What don't we remember?"

"Sorry, kid," Sander shook his head. "That's for Riss to tell you." Wordlessly, the older boy left the room, heading for the deck where he would surely wait until Riss came back to speak to him, watching for threats.

 **XXXXX**

 _It's just Jason, no biggie._ Riss closed her eyes in a pained expression, _total biggie—the problem was because it was Jason._ Her sweet, loving Jason who had mourned her every minute she had been gone— _gods_ , how had she done that, how had she let _Zeus_ do that to him? Watching Jason had hurt the most, even when she had seen Percy and Annabeth fighting for their lives through Tartarus—she supposed it was because she _knew_ that her brother and the blonde would survive, Jason's grief was a whole different ocean that she was swimming in.

She knocked at the door to his— _her_ —cabin, receiving a near-silent, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Jase," Riss murmured, pressing her forehead to the door. She could have heard crickets from the other side of the wood and she sighed, " _Jason_ , please, open the door. We need to talk."

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say."

"Please don't be like this. You have to understand that—"

"My girlfriend, the girl who said she loved me and I said that I loved her right before she died, decided to fake her own death to shack up with a dude centuries older than her in Olympus? Yeah, I got that." Riss stifled a laugh at the _jealousy_ she could hear in his voice. Jason's jaw clenched, hands forming into fists, "This is _funny_ to you? Everything you put me through, what you put _everyone_ through, is just a joke?"

The Jackson girl immediately sobered, "Gods, no, Jason. I _never_ wanted to hurt any of you; I just…I didn't know how to tell Zeus _no_ to the whole _greater purpose_ speech he gave me." The silence was deafening. " _Please_ , give me five minutes to explain."

A beat passed and Riss almost stopped breathing entirely. The door slowly creaked opened and she met the dull, icy eyes of Jason Grace. The purple bags under his eyes were extremely prominent and Riss' heart clenched at the look in his eyes—desolate and lost. Jason's jaw ticked and he pulled the door wider.

"Five minutes."

Riss let out a relieved sigh, slipping into the room, careful not to touch Jason as she did. He was barely willing to speak to her, let alone be anywhere close to touching him for a very long time. The acid-green-eyed girl remained standing, watching Jason as he sat back down on the bed. He watched her in return, taking in the sight of her like a man starved but she didn't miss the way he flinched once he met her unnatural eyes.

"Well," Jason raised his brows, "start talking."

 **XXXXX**

"I don't like it."

"I don't think you like anything, Zhang."

Frank shot a dark look at the Latino boy, "Shut up, Leo. You love Riss too much to even _think_ that there's something wrong with her sudden reappearance, _from the dead_ , right when a new giant turns up. Tell me it's not fishy."

"Only thing fishy is that tuna casserole you're eating there, Frank," Leo mused, glancing up from the wire panel that he was fiddling with on Buford. His eyes flashed with amusement at the boy across from him, putting down his screwdriver. "Tell me, isn't that some sort of cannibalism?"

The burly Chinese boy scowled down at said casserole, poking at it with his fork, repeating a "Shut up, Leo" before he put his fork down. "I just…I don't trust the Riss that is talking to Jason right now. She came back from the dead, dude—"

"And, uh, where did Hazel come from again?"

" _Shit_." The Zhang boy floundered for a bit, red cheeked and wide eyed before he seemed to get himself together again, "You're right, about Hazel, okay, but I still don't trust Riss. Something's just… _off_."

Leo rolled his eyes, "Oh, wise praetor, what would we have ever done without you?" The Valdez boy got up, comically collecting all his equipment so that it covered his face as he wobbled to his feet. "Hey, if anyone asks, I'll be talking to Annabeth. She's, uh…"

Frank shook his head, flicking his eyes up to the ceiling. "She's on the deck, keeping Percy from bursting in on Riss and Jason's private talk."

The son of Hephaestus stuck out his tongue in distaste, mind darting to what _private_ could mean before he struggled his way up the stairs to where Annabeth and Percy were watching the stars. Somewhere, between listening to Frank complain and eat a casserole and Leo's random fiddling, the sun had slipped below the horizon and the moon was now staring down at everyone like a creepy eye.

Annabeth's head was resting on Percy's shoulder when Leo _tripped_ into view but she quickly hurried over to help him collect his spare parts. Leo didn't mention that he could see the red in her eyes. "What have you done, Leo?"

"Why do you always assume I've done something wrong!?"

"Because it's _you_ ," Percy informed the young boy, passing him his screwdriver. "So, what's up, man?"

Leo waved his free arm, now that the blonde girl was holding half of his equipment. "Frank doesn't trust Riss, Hazel's having _girl talk_ with Piper and I _don't_ want to know what the two young, recently-reunited lovers are doing."

Percy's eyes darkened, "They better not be doing anything."

"Right, _right_. Don't listen to me—they're not doing anything but talking, just talking." Leo nodded like a bobble-head. "I'd hate to be your little sibling… _Anyway_ , I had some ideas, the weapon-kind, to maybe take down _Angustia_. You said she's pretty small, yeah, but fast?"

"From what I saw," Percy agreed. "Her height gives her the speed advantage. She made everyone around her really skittish too."

Annabeth's brow furrowed, "Emotion inducement?" Percy shrugged, a look that said _no idea_ crossing his face. "Huh…I wonder if Riss can do that."

The Jackson boy shrugged again, "Even if she could, she wouldn't. Riss isn't like that." He refused to believe that the young woman speaking to Jason was someone knew, just wearing his little sister's face, like Sander had suggested and he was adamant about not treating her any differently. "Anyway, Leo?"

" _Right_. I wanted to ask if Annabeth could help me with something to maybe block it, if we're right about the whole _feeling witchy woo_ stuff." Leo's nose wrinkled, "'Cause I don't really wanna be all _I love you guys_ and _we're a big, happy family_ when I should be all _lady, I got a hammer with your name on it_. You know?"

"I know," Annabeth commented dryly before she nodded towards the stairs, "Let's go then." She turned to press a kiss to Percy's lips, "Let me know when Riss is ready to talk, okay? I'll be in Leo's _office_."

Percy nodded, "Have fun blowing things up."

Annabeth shot a dead look over her shoulder before she and Leo disappeared from view. Percy slumped to sit against the side of the _Argo II_ , vaguely feeling the waves under him sway and swell. The ocean hadn't been as stable in a while—the Jackson boy assumed it was because Poseidon was grieving and the sea had taken a bit of that pain on itself. He'd spoken to him, quite a few times actually, and, after he had been at the house with Sally, _gods_ , did he look old. His dark, inky hair had gray streaks in it and his eyes were dull and sunken into his face. It probably hadn't helped that Triton was grieving too and Amphitrite didn't give a shit, instead making it abundantly clear that she was pleased that the _spawn of her rival in Poseidon's affections_ was dead. According to Sally, who still had daily chats with Poseidon and Percy, Triton hadn't spoken to his mother since and had, in a rather _stick-it_ manner, had taken to having regular conversations with Sally, growing closer to the mortal mother of his three younger siblings.

But now, as Percy was noticing, the sea was _calm_. _Gentle_ , almost. Maybe it was because Riss was back or because Poseidon—who had been kept in the dark about his daughter's level of _aliveness_ —had finally, _finally_ been told by his brother that his little girl still breathed. And not just _breathed_ , she _thrived_ as a new goddess.

Percy wasn't going to treat her any differently because it was still Riss. Still _cracks-bad-puns_ and _is-unnaturally-dependent-on-coffee_ Nerissa Jackson. The only difference was her sea-green eyes had been replaced with the acid-green he'd become used to when she had used her powers before her… _well_ , temporary death. And, in all honesty, Riss could have come back as a sea slug and Percy wouldn't have cared.

He was just glad he had his twin sister back.

 **XXXXX**

"What the—!" Piper yelped as she turned the corner as she left Hazel's room, running smack into a broad chest. She dropped her chin, rubbing at her nose in annoyance. "Can you watch where you're— _hi_ , Sander, I didn't realise it was you—I'm so, so sorry for bumping into you, are you hurt?"

Sander laughed, finding the girl's rambling dangerously adorable. It probably wasn't a good combination, a daughter of the love goddess and a notorious ladies man but Sander was turning over a new leaf. He'd turn over a million leaves if it meant spending some more time with Piper McLean.

She looked good too, like she always did. When he had met her in the café, she'd been a little bit more dressed up—you can't just walk into a café with a scorched shirt and blood pouring from the wound on your head and expect it to be socially acceptable—but her current attire—ankle boots, a green t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans—made Piper seem a bit more approachable and a _tiny_ bit more attainable. It didn't help that Piper McLean glowed with an inner light no matter what she looked like or was wearing that made Sander particularly weak-kneed either.

"I'm fine, babe." Piper blushed, Sander smirked. He offered his arm to the girl, "Would you be willing to show me around this terrific ship—I got lost before and I walked into a room only to get a fireball lobbed at my face."

The McLean girl winced, "Yeah, that's Leo's workshop. I would avoid it in the future, if I were you. Most of the time we get out _relatively_ unscathed."

" _In the future_ ," Sander echoed. "So, you want me to stick around?"

"I, uh, I just," Piper stammered before she seemed to magically collect her cool from the bottom of her _Hello Kitty_ socks and smiled up at the dark-haired man, eyes glinting. "I figured you didn't really have a choice. If Riss stays, you stay, and she'll want to stay. I know that for a fact."

Sander almost swore. Oh, how the tables had turned and it was his turn to blush for assuming Piper wanted to be around him as much as he wanted to be around her. "Boss' orders, I suppose. What happens if her talk with Grace doesn't work out?"

Piper's head tilted up, a look of absolute confidence on her face. "It will. I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, I know these things. They're made for each other and everything will be perfect."

The pair stopped outside the door of Riss' old cabin, which had been adopted by Jason. It was dead silent—either the reunited couple were kissing or they were just awkwardly sitting there and staring at each other. Riss wouldn't have done that though—she hated awkward silences and she'd probably do just about anything to avoid them.

"No yelling…"

"They're fine!" Piper chirped confidently, rocking back on her heels. "Riss will come out. She'll be smiling and—" the door swung open "— _oh_ …"

Piper darted forward, her arms reaching out to grasp Riss' arms. The daughter of Poseidon was crying, large tears rolling down her face and, with a quick jerk of her arm, the door slammed shut behind her, keeping Jason from coming out after her.

"Riss, what happened?" Sander asked gently, reaching forward to wrap an arm around his patron's shoulder. The girl shrugged him off, walking away like she had a mission to avoid being even within a foot's distance of Jason Grace. The son of Somnus followed dutifully after the woman, as silent as a shadow. "Are we leaving?"

"Yes."

"Now?"

" _Yes_."

Sander's hand darted out to grab Riss', stopping her in her tracks, "What happened? What did Grace do to make you cry?"

Riss turned glowing eyes on the man, her hair whipping around her head as an invisible wind tugged at her hair. Her face was tense, eyes almost wild as she glared heatedly at the man with his hand still on her arm. "He did nothing— _he_ is nothing—and we will leave as soon as I've spoken to my brother. Now, _release me_."

Sander froze. He heard the order, trusted that the repercussions would be harsh if he confronted the highly-strung, emotional goddess. His hand dropped to his side and his jaw ticked, annoyed with the tug in him that ordered him to obey, despite his desire to tell her where to stick it and demand an answer.

"Sure thing, Boss."

 **XXXXX**

* * *

 **UNEDITED**

 **I'M SORRY IF I HURT YOUR LITTLE SHIPPER HEARTS!**

 **I love writing moments between Riss and Sander, their interactions make my day. The next chapter will go back to before Riss ran out to her conversation with Jason. I wanted to show how Riss has changed in this chapter and she might seem a little cold and cruel for the next few chapters but there will be reason for that and you'll see why later on.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW!**

 **~ Raven**


	6. IMPORTANT, MUST READ

On Wattpad, my work, Atlantic, got plagiarised.

And I'm freaking pissed.

I contacted the author, hoping to sort this out nicely but they have just posted two more chapters and aspects are STILL almost word-for-word MINE. The process to report this story is lengthy, I'm stressed and upset and I really, really don't have it in me to be anything close to gentle if I re-approach this author.

I'm sorry to all you wonderful, wonderful readers but I'm not posting for a while until this is all sorted out.

Plagiarism is not okay. Ever.

I'm sorry.

~ Raven


End file.
